Victory Amps overhauls its Sheriff range – and seemingly signs Mastodon’s Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher to its ranks

UK guitar amp specialist Victory Amplification has announced two new additions to its Sheriff amp series – both of which appear to have caught the attention of Mastodon’s Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher.

The new Sheriff 25 and VS100 Super Sheriff build on the line’s British rock voicings, replacing the existing Sheriff 22 and Sheriff 44 models.

But more on the specifics later on, because the bigger story appears to be the new models’ endorsement by both Mastodon guitarists.

Kelliher was seemingly confirmed by Andertons boss man Lee Anderton, who shared a photo of Bill next to a stack of Sheriff heads and thanked Victory for setting up an interview.

Hinds, meanwhile, could be spotted over on Victory artist relations Alex Auxier’s Instagram account, accompanied by a VS100 Super Sheriff and the caption, “Something is happening here and I’m so stoked to show you.”

Media agency Newmerica were also tagged in the post – its latest image shows Brent Hinds in a car branded with “Sheriff Hinds County”, so it looks like we can expect another madcap Brent promo video in the near-future.

The Mastodon men’s signing is notable given their previous signature amp releases – Kelliher has long been faithful to his Friedman Butterslax head, while Brent Hinds released his own low-power Orange Terror head. We’re intrigued to see how far the relationship with Victory goes, and whether new signature gear could be in the offing.

Tonally, it makes sense that the pair would make the jump. While the Sheriff features a lower-gain Plexi-esque vintage channel, it also offers a JCM-inspired ’hot rod’ option that is likely to appeal to metal guitarists of all stripes.

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As for the new offerings, the Sheriff 25 is available as a 25-watt head ($1,449/£1,199) or 1x12 combo with Celestion G12H anniversary speaker ($2,229/£1,899).

The VS100 Super Sheriff, meanwhile, comes as a head only, and delivers a pair of modes per channel: clean and crunch, as well as gain and more gain.

Two versions of the VS100 will be released: a wooden sleeve model ($2,369/£1,999) and a wide-body wooden head ($2,499/£2,099) to pair with Victory’s 4x12 cabinets.

Other features include a Presence control and Bass Focus switch, as well as a rotary knob for Bass Focus on the amp’s rear.

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Naturally, there’s also an onboard FX loop, footswitchable channels and modes, plus bias test points and a wealth of speaker outputs. And as with all of Victory’s gear, the amps are designed and hand-built in the UK.

For more information on the new models, head over to Victory Amps.

While we’re on the subject of Mastodon gear, we’re still waiting on Bill Kelliher’s ESP double-cut Silverburst signature model, although he did release his latest set of signature pickups, the uber-versatile Mojotone Hellbender, last month.